STUMPED - WiFi network problems....

Hi

I've recently tried upgrading my home network kit. I have a three storey house and a garage out the back of the garden - and like to use WiFi everywhere. I bought a few of these:

TP Link TL-WPA281KIT AV200 Powerline

I have three of these wireless access points. The performance over the power wiring is great - if I test one of them on their own or plug in an ethernet cable into them - its very fast (speed tests get 10Mbps - which is the speed of my ADSL). I've given all three the same SID and WPA password. I've put them on non-overlapping channels (1,6 & 13) and they're spaced out across the house/garage. So the intention is that my devices can 'roam' seamlessly as we go around the house.

HOWEVER, the WiFi performance is quite bad. Most of our devices (iphone, Android phone, laptops, media player etc..) are getting intermittent signals and poor performance. Its especially a problem when in the parts of the house where you can get a signal from one or more of the access points. If I'm in a part of the garage where you can't get a signal from the two in the house, performance is great too. In addition, I've just turned off two of them and have only one switched on. And performance is great in the part of the house with most problems before that. No intermittent connection and very fast.

So, I can only conclude that these three access points are interfering with each other? But they're on non-overlapping wifi channels? How could this be possible?

I'm really stumped and very frustrated that I've made my WiFi network worse despite spending a couple of hundred quid on kit! I've spent an hour searching forums - but the only thing I keep seeing is that this should work in theory as long as you use non-overlapping channels? Any suggestions or ideas would really be appreicated?

Thanks,
DONALF

This is a link to the kit I've bought:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WPA281KIT-Powerline-Exten...

Are you manually setting the channel you want to use on your devices?

I

Yes. I chose the channels manually. I initially left them on auto channel, but they all seemed to just stay on channel 1.

If they are all on the same channel how is performance?

Remember by taking up the full channel range you may have neighbours networks hoping around causing your issues too.

I didn't try it for long, as I thought they'd all interfere with each other? Should I give it a try?

In the first instance, "swap" the channels around on the APs.

I.e., atm you have

AP1 = Ch1
AP2 = Ch6
AP3 = Ch13

Reverse that so that

AP1 = Ch11
AP2 = Ch6
AP3 = Ch1

Then try

AP1 = Ch11
AP2 = Ch1
AP3 = Ch6

I know this all sounds wacky but it can make a difference, and may just solve your problem.

It is important to note it is never going to be perfect with a domestic system and handover will never be fully seamless, if you want a seamless handover you will need a very expensive solution which isn't appropriate (4 digit numbers)

I am not familiar with the exact product you are using so make sure to google around and check the owners manual for additional settings which may need to be supported.

Regarding Channel 13 I understand it is less compatible compared to channels 1-11, and given that 11 is not overlapping, you may be wise to move it to Ch11 to eliminate this potential.

In reply to a post by donalf:

I didn't try it for long, as I thought they'd all interfere with each other? Should I give it a try?

As a last resort anything is worth a try. Some wireless systems are supposed to work on the same channel, but you are talking expensive kit and I doubt home stuff is designed for this in mind.

Of course! You say diff channels are bad.

As per users guide: http://www.tp-link.com/Resources/document/TL-WPA281K...

Try changing channel width to 20Mhz. If it 40Mhz there will be overlap occurring.

Even home should cope with other devices on same channel otherwise problems of congestion on wifi would be a lot worse than they are.

If one access point is quiet, then another on the same channel should be fine. Should only be bad if both access points have lots of traffic flying around